Luke Hingson, president of Brother’s Brother says his organization has been active in the Philippines since the 1950s. One of the inherent problems when responding to natural disasters is the uncertainty of what to expect from the situation.

"At first no one knows the magnitude of it. There's no report, the power lines are down, communications are down, no one knows how big. And if you are going to be involved half-way around the world, how do you do it?"

In collaborating with the Philippine American Medical Society of Western PA, Brother's Brother gathers hospital supplies and ships them in ocean containers. Hingson says right now the best way for the public to help with the relief effort is to send money.

"We can get material," he says "What we need is the money to move the material."